Why the hell did AAMC highlight this topic. Giving people false hope.
"Yes, I took the MCAT 5 times. I am invariably a slow reader, so getting through all the passages was a struggle for me.I was also used to over-thinking everything (ala PhD); so, this characteristic did not help when it came down to a timed standardized exam."
Inspiring story and all but let's look at reality. This student doctor took
MCAT 5x attributing it to her
slow reading and bad test taking skills. USMLE (at least
3 steps and continuing education exams) is also a standardized test (
makes MCAT look like a joke) and it requires significantly more reading than MCAT, integrating over 10 disciplines. If she does make all the way to attending status she will in her 60s... Great job Texas A&M ADCOMs. Great foresight y'all must have.
@Goro thoughts?
P.S. by no means am I discriminating her in any form. In my opinion they placed an impossible hurdle for her to pass. I'm a fan of the underdog, so am looking forward to being proven wrong. Maybe I'll even see her on the wards someday.
I am glad when the Adcoms try to look past the obvious.
There's 2 kinds of non-trads ->
non-trads that are non-trads, yet when they apply themselves/overcome barriers, look on paper just as good as a trad.
They tend to do OK in med school. Turns out no matter your situation, a good GPA, MCAT, and working your ass off is predictive of success in med school.
Then there's the non-trads that don't look so good on paper (grades, MCAT, prior experience, etc).
Of those, there's 2 kinds ->
Ones that for reasons look like a gamble, yet somehow we can tell or can believe they will be great physicians.
We take the risk, and they manage to scrape by to be a success story.
Then there's the ones that fail. I've seen both types.
I'm OK that Adcoms take the chance on people like this. It's good. I want non-trads and the crappiest test takers that can skirt by - I believe in non-trads and diversity in medicine, and I don't think tests are the end all be all for being a good doc. They are necessary to get there or it's a non-starter, though. I don't care about tests, except that there must be a way to test you, and you must be able to have a ton of info in your brain and be able to reason with it.
But look at it this way - you're getting enough rope to hang yourself. Good luck.
PS - failing the MCAT and retaking is NBD compared to how career ending a single Step failure can be. Timing is critical. The pace is brutal.
A lot of ppl don't appreciate how much they are able to control schedule and pace-wise prior to med school.
PSS - A lot of my doom and gloom isn't even about non-trads to begin with, often I don't know what forum I'm in when I am alerted to a thread in one of my many watched forums. So you should feel "good" most of the time I'm speaking my mind with little thought to trad or non-trad. Don't like that? Chew what that means a little.